Technical Field
This invention relates generally to a wound dressing, and more particularly to an alginate wound dressing.
Background Art
Alginate fibers are known to be of value in healing wounds. It is generally understood that wounds are to be kept generally dry to facilitate healing. The use of gauze, which is a cotton based product, while helpful, is not optimal for healing wounds due to its tendency to adhere to tissue about the wound when liquids are exuded. Alginates are a useful substitute for gauze due to their ability to absorb liquids in a less adherent manner than gauze dressings.
Alginates are a polymer product that may be obtained from algae and other similar organisms. Many alginates employed in wound dressings are derived from seaweed. Specifically, a solution comprising a soluble alginate polymer made from various mannuronic and gulurnic residues of the seaweed. The solution is then extruded into a bath where an insoluble form of the alginate precipitates. This alginate can then be spun to form fibers used in wound dressings. While prior art alginate dressings adequately well in practice, they do not fully eliminate the adherent issue discussed above. It would be advantageous to have an improved alginate dressing that reduced the likelihood that the dressing would adhere to a wound, while at the same time being simple and inexpensive to manufacture.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.